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Wyck's Hollow
Wyck's Hollow is the name given to the space secretly constructed by Wyck to serve as his Sanctum. The tunnels and chambers lie mostly under his building but stretch out under the city of Pasadena. History The Hollow began with a mistake, technically. While working in the basement of his coffee house, Wyck discovered a utility door partially obscured by an old cabinet. Well naturally he had to see where the door went and that's when he found the set of spiral stairs that went down into a sub basement. The sub basement appears to have been from an earlier construction - predating the fall when the foundation for one building was used for its own replacement. The sub basement was barely more than a utility shaft, just a space and a set of stairs to carry you down to a set of pipes and wheels - probably an old boiler room. While down there, Wyck discovered a crack in one of the walls and a natural passage beyond - the rock apparently had cracked in one of the many quakes that hit the area during the Fall. The passage was little more than a recess - a body-sized cavity on the other side of the wall, but it was enough to give him an idea. At this time, Wyck was pretty much on his own - settling down from throwing the Raves around the city and easing back from dealing Ice and working as an escort in Downtown. He used most if not all of his money to pick up the building as a place to call his own. Something a bit more permanent than the wikibago that he had been staying in for so long. The coffee shop upstairs, Wycked Grounds, was a good place. It let people come together and talk, hang out and enjoy their time together without worrying about what might happen once the sun went down. He wanted more. Where as others would call for drills and jack hammers, Wyck used his magic to push the stone out of his way, essentially shaping it like a potter would move unwanted clay around the form until he was satisfied. It took him a while but eventually he was able to connect to existing cave structures and make for himself a home under the city; a Hollow. Entrance The entrance is hidden in the basement of the Wycked Grounds building. Once one passes through the false door there is a long, winding stairway, which is presumably a sub-basement below the building. The sub-basement held a boiler, or so it would seem, as well as other utilities for the building. The stairs take you down at least another level or so and have no illumination save that what one brings with them. At the base there is a crack in the stones of the wall that leads to rough, cave-like tunnels. The tunnels at this point are little more than cracks in the bedrock - natural passages in the strata that the city above rests on. It's cold, dark and would give anyone who has claustrophobia nightmares for quite a while. The slide would easily tip the average person into a pit that even Wyck never bothered to fully explore. Beyond the 'gap' at the bottom of the slide is another tunnel that immediately starts to wind off to the right. After about one or two rotations, the darkness breaks to the soft, yellow glow of candle light and the first of many chambers. Chambers The first of the chambers is a 'gate' that Wyck created out of the best materials he could fabricate and combine. Little short of tactical explosives would breach it. Beyond the gate the tunnel continues to wrap around to the right and then opens to the first living chamber. Wyck's Hollow has walls and stairs of roughly hewn stone and is light entirely by candles and lamps. The chamber is furnished with a bunch of pre-fall furniture with a bed shelf cut into the side of the wall. Books, all 'real' books from before the fall are piled in stacks or set into small nooks cut into the walls. Candles light the room in a soft amber glow, some on stands and others on the wheel-like chandelier hanging from the ceiling. A small hearth, opposite the bed shelf, could easily keep the place warm and toasy as the need arose. The air feels fairly fresh and cool - not what you might expect this far down into the earth. Somehow the air is ventilated and there's a breeze coming up from the tunnels that continues beyond the pasage and down to continue the spiral. After another revolution or two and the tunnel opens into a smithy of sorts. The forge sits in the 'center' of the room with shelves and tables set in multiple places around the area. What's more impressive for this chamber, however, is the large 'window' in the corner beside the forge that looks out onto what appears to be an underground watefall. The waterfall chamber glows with a faint blue-white light reminiscent of moon light and will have the occasional cool breeze wafting in. If you continue to explore the tunnel's spiral and head beyond the forge, you'll come to a chamber which is at the bottom of the falls. The tunnel empties out onto a small stone ledge which brushes against a deep pool created by the waterfall. The waters churn and rumble under the falls but by the time the waves reach the stone of the ledge they have calmed to a still, mirror-like reflection of the unknown lightsource above. Crystal fragments line the wall here and there - each one channeling light from elsewhere like fiber-optic cables. Resonance Wyck's Hollow practically vibrates with calm, healing vibes. Like a warm blanket on a crisp autumn night, the whole place invites one to curl up by the light of a candle, eat some good food, read a good book and recover one's strength . Primary Resonance *'Life:' As one sleeps within the caverns of Wyck's Hollow they will notice that their wounds heal more quickly than they would naturally. Their aches don't hurt them so much and they're not as sick as they may have been in the world above. *'Mind: '''This place is a sanctuary from the chaos and turmoil of the world above. One's mind can find a calm stillness here that is difficult to find in the throng of LATMA or in the Wastelands. Secondary Resonance *'Creation:' Once one has been able to balm their injured bodies and soothe their chaotic minds, the place is perfect to then create whatever one needs to create. Whether it's mending something that was broken or perhaps creating something from scratch, the place is filled with materials and old books to guide one's hands in the creation of whatever should be made to assist one with the days ahead. *'Lost and Found': Every nook and cranny of the Hollow is filled with little bits of this and that which was lost in the Fall. Old books, small figurines, glass baubles and the like - it's like there was a little time capsule from the days that have been forgotten that found its way here. Who knows what could be found on the shelves in this place. Wyck himself has forgotten where half of the stuff came from - it just ended up in his bag some day while on his travels and eventually found its way down here. *'Low Tech: The sanctum, due to the fact that it's so far underground and made, nearly completely, by magic, rejects digital technology of nearly any form. Cellular signals can not penetrate. There is no source of electricity within the entire sanctum and any electronic device will have issues trying to function. Background Resonance *Once you've got past the basics of the feels and vibes of this place with the healing and the creation and all that - there's a last bit of a feel that you can't quite put your finger on. It's the last taste in your mouth after a good meal - the one that you're left with only when you've left and have to realize what you've experience. *'''Slumber: The urge to sleep - to rest, nap or even just take one's ease is so common in the space that it's hard to realize it until you've moved on and realize that it's gone. The place has a quality to it that seems like it could have ben a Bed and Breakfast at some point. You just -want- to curl up, sleep for a while and let the world above figure itself out for a time while you rest and regain your strength. Category:Sanctum/Mage